Friday, July 08, 2011

One of the saddest things I have ever seen at a baseball game occurred during yesterday's Rangers-A's game.After a foul ball was hit down the left field line, Josh Hamilton tossed the ball up into the stands.39-year-old Shannon Stone reached for the ball and fell over the railing.

He landed headfirst on the concrete below after a 20-foot fall and died before he even got to the hospital.If this could get even worse, Stone was at the game with his 6-year-old son. Presumably the little guy with the glove and red shirt and red hat you see in the video.

Wednesday, July 06, 2011

Happy 7th birthday to the much-maligned but also much-loved Diesel.He is far from the perfect dog, but he is perfect for us.Through him I have become a lover of all animals and a much more compassionate loving person. I regret that we no longer have the long walks we had before the kids intervened but to me there are few things more special than when it's just me and him loping along side by side.

"Collard Greens and Cornbread" - FantasiaI love cornbread. I love Fantasia. I love songs that sample "Your Precious Love." When she sang this on Idol we scanned through it and didn't even pay attention. So now I'm making up for it.

Monday, July 04, 2011

The Obama Re-Election leaflet once known as the New York Times published a stunning op-ed this week. It was written by Brian Palmer and it questions many of the most sacred traditions of July 4th. It literally goes after apple pie.In "Fire Up the Grill, Not The Atmosphere" Palmer says cooking is a big culprit of greenhouse gas emissions.

Here's Palmers take on three July Fourth barbecue staples:

Hamburgers and hot dogs: Beef is an environmental disaster, no matter how you cook it

Potato salad: sometimes appetizing but always wasteful. An overwhelming majority of the energy in boiling goes into heating the water rather than cooking the potatoes.Direct-heat methods are more efficient and usually tastier. Cubed and pan-fried potatoes take just 10 minutes to cook and require less than one-third the energy of boiling.

Apple pie: Skip the pie. Baking is so energy profligate...

Is there anything more American than apple pie? Is there anything less American than saying skip the pie?

Basically this all comes do to your perception of the author's intent. Palmer does offer several disclaimers about not wanting everyone to give up meat, or use the microwave, which is the most energy-efficient. But I doubt his sincerity. To me, this doesn't come off as "tips to have a greener barbecue" it comes off as a lecture on what we are doing wrong and why we as Americans are gluttonous pigs who are ruining the environment and getting obese all at the same time.

Moving on, the July 3rd issue of the New York Times featured a front page story about how states are incrasingly allowing the sale of fireworks because of the revenue it brings in. New York, Massachusetts, Delaware and New Jersey are the last four holdouts. Residents of those states travel across state lines to purchase fireworks.

The article was accompanied by a picture of a New Jersey resident, Reggie Noble, loading up on fireworks in Easton, Pennsylvania.

“My father took me to buy fireworks, and now I’m doing it for my kids,” said Reggie Noble, who was filling his cart with fireworks at the Phantom Fireworks in Easton one day this week. Mr. Noble, 41, who is better known as the rap artist Redman, said it did not make much sense that he cannot buy fireworks in New Jersey, where he lives.

“I can see the dangers they are trying to prevent, but it’s still happening,” he said. “I vote that they should lift it up.”

Sunday, July 03, 2011

Chase's review of Cars 2:"There were a lot of bad guys. And they shooted at the racecars. And they crashed. And the ambulance had to come fix them."

My review of Cars 2:Chase is right. There were a lot of bad guys in this movie. Unlike the first one which had a cute plot with no antagonists, this one wasn't as good. It played out like a bad spy movie. Mater was mistaken for a spy. And by the time everyone figured out what was going on it was too late, Mater had to act like a spy. There were car chases (of course), there was shooting and there were ridiculous plot leaps that made no sense, just to keep the action going. That said, I liked the movie, it was cute, it was fun and there were enough jokes designed to keep the adults interested, that went right over the kids' heads, like Mater on a bidet.There was also the hidden environmental agenda storyline targeting the parents.The whole idea of the World Grand Prix was started by a billionaire who had discovered a new clean fuel which would eliminate the need for oil. But he turned out to be an evil oil baron who was sabotaging the racecars so the world would reject clean fuel forever.

But the important thing was Chase liked it, though he did get a little bored in the middle. He loved the car racing scenes, they were loud (at one point he covered his ears), colorful and he knew a lot of the racecars because we bought him the toys before the movie. I think it would have been good in 3-D (though we thought we should ease into that) because the cars drove towards the front of the screen, there was water splashing and guns firing.

Chase also loved the experience. He loved the popcorn. He loved the cushy seat. He loved the big screen. Hopefully he will always remember his first movie.